CCA Bul­letin 44/08

Octo­ber 15, 2008

Just the Facts

Cana­di­ans have spo­ken and now all atten­tion turns to the busi­ness of the 40th Par­lia­ment and the renewed minor­ity man­date of the Con­ser­v­a­tive Party of Canada.

The Cana­dian Con­fer­ence of the Arts (CCA) con­grat­u­lates all those who ran as can­di­dates in the gen­eral elec­tion, whether they were suc­cess­ful or not. Their con­vic­tion to serve Canada is some­thing that we can all appre­ci­ate and is the very heart of democracy.

And now, what is in store for Cana­di­ans? It is expected that the Prime Min­is­ter will select his new Cab­i­net in the com­ing days, and the CCA will pro­vide back­ground infor­ma­tion on the new and return­ing Min­is­ters from the arts and cul­ture per­spec­tive once they are sworn in by the Gov­er­nor General.

Another devel­op­ment to look for will be the Speech from the Throne in which the gov­ern­ment will out­line its pri­or­i­ties for the first ses­sion of the 40th Par­lia­ment. The CCA will pro­vide a detailed analy­sis of the Speech and what it bodes for issues of impor­tance to the arts and cul­ture sector.

It is also unclear whether or not there will be an Eco­nomic Update pre­sented before Christ­mas. Given the cur­rent eco­nomic uncer­tainty, the Prime Min­is­ter may take the oppor­tu­nity of using the update to reas­sure Cana­di­ans about the secu­rity of our own economy.

Tell Me More

This past fed­eral elec­tion has made the arts and cul­ture a national issue for the first time in liv­ing mem­ory. All polit­i­cal par­ties were drawn into the debate, giv­ing Cana­di­ans the oppor­tu­nity to con­sider the full spec­trum of ideas and posi­tions as impor­tant ele­ments of the respec­tive campaigns.

It is too soon to say whether the atten­tion gar­nered by this issue will be sus­tained once Par­lia­ment returns. It is hoped that early on, we will see the tabling of a Bill on Copy­right. Fur­ther, we hope to see the gov­ern­ment follow-up on its promise to take the con­tentious phrase “con­trary to pub­lic pol­icy” from the sec­tion of the Bill amend­ing the Income Tax Act con­cern­ing tax cred­its for film and video production.

Cer­tainly, the CCA will con­tinue to engage the pub­lic pol­icy dis­cus­sion regard­ing the fund­ing of the arts and cul­ture by the fed­eral gov­ern­ment. We will report on the devel­op­ment of poli­cies and reg­u­la­tions intended to advance and sus­tain the cre­ation and dis­tri­b­u­tion of all forms of cul­tural expres­sion in Canada, as well as cre­ate a dia­logue on those poli­cies which will help develop this key sec­tor within Canada’s cre­ative economy.

What Can I Do?

The CCA would appre­ci­ate hear­ing your views on the infor­ma­tion we pro­vided to the sec­tor dur­ing the cam­paign. If you have ideas about what we could do bet­ter next time or what you found of good use please let us know by email, or bet­ter still, tell us in per­son at one of the Regional Forums which begin this week in Ottawa. We look for­ward to hear­ing your views and your per­spec­tive on the work of the 40th Par­lia­ment of Canada.